Has there been a proliferation of class action filings lately that has hurt substantive class action cases?
KABATECK: Recently there have been an awful lot of folks—who don’t understand class actions—filing class actions and becoming overnight class action specialists. It’s very disconcerting. When I started doing class action cases more than a decade ago, judges were very respectful of the cases. They’d look at them very seriously. Now I’m seeing more and more judges raising their eyebrows, looking at cases as if, “Oh, another class action.” You’ve got to almost start behind the line explaining to the court, “No, this is really a justifiable class action.” I’ve seen class actions being brought claiming medical injury, which we know you can’t bring. It demonstrates to me a lack of knowledge and understanding. We have to be vigilant about these kinds of bad class actions. Half a dozen years ago, you’d hardly see a seminar in class actions. Today, I can’t pick up my mail without getting a brochure or some sort of e-mail about educational seminars on class action cases. NIERLICH: There is a dif
